And the Eggs Cry
by Aishata
Summary: There's something about Kirino's brother that seems a little...off. She knows there's something wrong with him, but she can't place her finger on it. If only she could just find out what happened...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

{[+]}

Why would somebody dream to be normal?

To be shackled by the social constraints of society, to be among the many faceless members of humankind…what reasons would someone have to aim for that?

To have a carefree life? Nonsense. To be normal is to be trampled by those of superior ability, to be normal dictates powerlessness.

To be normal for the sake of being average? Also nonsense. Why would you be average if you could become great, far above your fellow human beings?

No, the only reason someone would dream to be normal is those of the lost. Just like how the children dream to be adults; the normal dream to be great, and the great dream to be god…

-The broken dream to be normal.

For these people, the idea of being normal is an unreachable fantasy. So isolated from humanity, trauma far beyond light, people like these did exist.

So much so that they wouldn't even be considered humans anymore.

He would never forget.

Kyousuke stole a glance at the bespectacled girl next to him as they walked home from school. Once upon a time, the construct next to him was a real person, someone he had treasured above all others.

_Manami…_

The features of his face softened at the memory. She had been so pure then, donning a resolve to preserve the people she loved. And preserve they did, leaving her to fight until all that was left was a hollow shell. He tried to remember what she had looked like then. His eyes passed searchingly over the girl's face, but something fell out of his desperate grasp no matter how much he lunged.

The construct could only blush under the piercing attention.

"Kyousuke?" she queried.

Kyousuke looked away and continued forward. It was slight, but his head slumped forward in depression. He felt drained and dejected, not because it was an especially troubling day, but because it was a normal day.

"Nothing. Let's go home."

The construct would have continued voicing her concern, but the tone of the boy next to her brooked no tolerance for anything more.

They went home.

{[+]}

It could have been so much worse. He could have had abusive parents; he could have been born in an orphanage. Several bleak scenarios went through his head, but they all reassured him how lucky he was.

He didn't really have anything that justified angsty teenage outlooks.

Sure, his father was a prick and his sister in recent years turned into the incarnation of queen bitch. Sure, he probably wasn't the most favored child in his family.

But his parents loved him. He wasn't really sure about his sister, but the possibility of relying on his family with no strings attached was something only he had at the time.

Was it irrational to hate oneself for having something beneficial?

He couldn't even tell anymore, but for some reason the guilt wracked through him every day. Maybe it was why he stopped trying so hard anymore, even though he knew he was being pathetic.

Home was a rather touchy subject for him nowadays. His father used to be more proud of him back when he had stellar grades and an active role in the community, and even though his mother stayed kind and loving throughout the years, she had voiced concern for the growing lazy apathy of the lone Kousaka male.

As for his sister…

He gave a furtive look towards his sister, who was incidentally on the phone while lying belly first on the couch.

…he didn't even want to go into that subject.

Tea was probably one of the only real joys he actually had left. Satisfaction in any hobby eluded him, motivation in academics ebbed as the years went on, and as for sports…too much effort.

He poured himself a cup of chilled tea that he procured from the fridge. His Adam's apple bobbed as he guzzled down the liquid.

Now it was time to go to his room and mope around. He took a glance at the clock; eight hours to waste until bed time.

He threw one more glimpse at his sister as he walked out and closed the door behind him before he realized he left the tea out. Sighing, he turned back, only to knock into said little sister, sending them both careening onto the ground.

"Shit, I'm so sorry," Kyousuke blabbered as he picked himself up from the floor. He hadn't really interacted with his sister for years, and he really didn't want to make the relationship worse. He looked at all the things strewn across the floor and bent down to help, but his sister had other plans for him.

"Don't touch my stuff," she hissed.

Kyousuke felt a cold wave of anger drench him from head to toe. When did his sister become such a bitch? All he could do was watch as his sister stormed out of the house and slam the door behind her. A throbbing headache ate at his temples.

Oh well, at least he managed to waste a minute or too.

He promptly slipped on a plastic case conveniently left on the floor, and whammed his already abused head on the ground. If anything, his headache got even worse, and the plastic case rebounded off the adjacent wall and pierced the nerve endings in his nose. Pain clouded his eyes, but he eventually sighed at that too.

He could only stare at the heavens as he lay back, before he picked up the stupid case he had tripped on. Realization set in as his eyes read the colorful letters branded in bold across the cover.

...

He blinked twice, very owlishly.

…_I don't even know anymore._

{[+]}

"Hey mom, I'm going to go down to the convenience store and buy ice cream!"

"Have fun!"

Kyousuke left the door often and paused in his journey out the door as he waited. Sure enough, the sound of a door creaking open was heard upstairs. His mind went blank when his suspicions were confirmed, and somehow, he knew this would result in long-term trouble.

Kyousuke slapped his palm to his face and groaned.

{[+]}

"What are you doing in my room?"

Kirino jumped in fright and turned to face her brother. It was like she was a deer caught in headlights.

"N-Nothing…" she murmured as her eyes glanced downwards to the side.

Kyouske sweat-dropped; it was probably the most blatant lie he ever heard. He could only brace himself for whatever happened next.

"Are you looking for this?"

With a flourish he whipped out the plastic CD case that he hid in one of his secret compartments. The reaction was immediate.

"Wh-...Wait, that's…" Her voice trailed off. "I mean…" She trailed off again.

Kyousuke mentally sighed.

"Is this yours or not?"

There was silence. Kirino stood there blushing as her gaze flitted towards the floor. Despite her earlier aggressive, unwarranted actions, Kyousuke couldn't help but feel bad for her. Everyone had their secrets after all, and at this point nothing surprised Kyousuke anymore.

At that train of thought, his eyes grew distant. Some darker secrets were best left buried in the sand.

In a parallel universe, he would have probably teased his sister for a few aggravating moments before finally relinquishing the CD, just to get back at her. He wasn't really in the mood for that though, so he just threw at her, who caught it sheepishly.

"Take it and get out," he said, jabbing his thumb at the door behind him. "And don't come in my room again without asking me first."

Kirino felt a flash of anger at his words, but she huffed and got out. Just before leaving though, she hesitated.

"Do you…t-think it's weird for…" (she looked downwards) "m-me…to have these…hobbies?"

Kyousuke's eyes rolled up to the heavens as he gave the question thought for about 0.3 seconds.

"Believe me, I've seen worse."

"Wha-…What's that supposed to mean?" Kirino burst as her face turned an angry shade of red.

Kyousuke shook his head in exasperation.

"Gosh, must you take things so personally? It just means that as far as hobbies go, you're mild, so there isn't really any reason for you to feel so ashamed of it. Now get out, I have ice cream to get."

Kirino huffed.

"I'm probably going to be the only and last girl in the world ever that will be in your room," she ground out, just before she left.

_Ouch…That hurt…_

It was probably true though, but Kyousuke had long grown past the point of actually caring. Actually, he laughed at himself in amusement.

_True but pathetic…_

He rubbed his temples and went out to get the ice cream. What did his mom ask for again? Ah yes, strawberry, he thought, before he left the house. The rest of the day went by agonizingly slowly, as mundane minute after mundane minute passed. The trip to the supermarket turned up nothing of interest, and neither did his school work.

Sometimes, he wondered why he got up in the morning.

{[+]}

It's not every day that you see such grotesque architecture.

Even among the shadows, the beauty of the infrastructure around him did not go unnoticed. Vast halls with pillars casting gnarled, jagged shadows… darkness as far as his eyes could see.

It was a long time since he was here. He had no guess towards why he was here, or what he was doing, but he let his feet guide him. He could vaguely remember the tiled, checkered floor, but he didn't know the purpose of his roaming or how long it took when he got there. Eventually, the hall sloped upwards to a door only he could open.

He opened the door, and then he remembered.

Terror. Blind terror. His eyes widened as his pupils dilated. The body of the girl lay in the middle; and on top of her, twin red eyes pierced his soul. Blood ran down the walls and pooled on the floor, and his feet sank into the marsh. He tried to claw his way out, but the salty, sickening smell of iron assaulted him.

"Please forgive me," he pleaded, sprawled on his hands and legs towards the girl. "Please."

The blood ran up his thighs.

"Please! Forgive me!"

The girl's head tilted towards him, and he could barely see her eyes. They were just like what he remembered, but it was not a happy reconciliation.

"Disgusting," she mouthed.

"No! Please!"

"Worthless, useless boy."

Something in him broke.

"Please forgive me," he cried. "Forgive me. For-"

{[+]}

"-give…"

He gasped as his vision blurred open.

"Kyousuke!"

Body rising in frantic panic, he shoved the offending appendixes shaking his body. They reached for him again and he slapped away.

"Don't touch me!" he barked.

The corner was cool and comforting, and he found himself pressed against it with his arms wrapped around his trembling body. Cold sweat ran all the way down his forehead and dripped down his chin, while he struggled for oxygen. All the while, his head swam.

He needed to get to the toilet.

The trip there was a frantic, nauseating blur. He groped around, stumbled there, his uncoordinated efforts managing to bring his head over the toilet bowl. He promptly started emptying all the contents of his hurling stomach into it, the taste of bile and half digested food streaming into the water. The heaving didn't stop, not even after he was sure his stomach was empty.

Eyes and arms burned as he groped forward to flush the toilet. His eyes tracked the swirl of vomit being drained as he slumped against the towel rack. Heart beating with painful palpitations, he tried to regain normality over his respiratory system for a few agonizing seconds, only to realize that his sister was watching him. His eyes widened as shame and fear flushed up his body.

Anger rushed up inside of him.

"_I told you not to come into my room without asking me._"

Kirino flinched. Her brother's tone turned 20 degrees colder and there was the subtle tinge of rage behind it.

"I…I was just…"

"_If you ever do so again, I'm going to let mom and dad know that you've been playing eroge_."

That shut her up. She stared as her brother grasped the side of the bathtub and pulled himself up shakily. Without acknowledging her, he staggered past her and edged towards the direction of his room.

{[+]}

That night, Kirino went back to her room.

She did not catch even an ounce of sleep.

{[+]}

Author's note: I don't own oreimo or any of the associated anime series. That aside, this fic is a crossover with another anime, but I don't plan on revealing what kind of crossover it is until late into the story. But once that spoiler is revealed, everything will go FUBAR.

Kyousuke is shell-shocked. He's unlike my other protagonists in that he's a completely normal human, and will probably stay that way for most of the planned story. Hints to his back story will come up, but hopefully it won't be too obvious as to what this story has crossed over with yet.

Major characters may die later on. But considering the nature of which I am crossing over with, it's to be expected.

Reviews are my lifeblood and they encourage me to write more. Anything will be appreciated really, even if you just pull full stops and submit a review, or insult my manhood/intelligence/writing skills, it will still be better than having a big fat zero.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey."

The blue haired teenager glanced upwards at the figure that walked up and sat across him. A dress was worn, lacy, extravagant and brightly colored, a stark contrast to the secrecy discussed among them. Behind the paper mask was a girl's face, striking light blue eyes peering out of the two eye holes.

Contrary to the well known stereotype of confidential information being passed around in dark, shadowy allies, they discussed their business in a well-lit bar known as the Rainbow Cafe. Down in the districts where industry reigned, Kyousuke could wonder around without arousing too much suspicion. The multitude of late night workers and partying teenagers made it easy.

A black school bag slid across the table and Kyousuke grasped it by the handle nonchalantly. There was no need to peer inside the container to verify its contents; the supplier was trustworthy.

"Delivery, as you requested."

Kyousuke nodded at the girl's curt and toneless message. There was no mirth to these transactions, no excited undertones. All of it was plain cold efficiency, no more, no less. In a different time, they would have gathered around the bag with excitement. It was just the two of them now.

"Wait," he called out before the girl could leave.

She froze, surprised at this break of protocol from the teenager. Most of their transactions minimized any form of interaction (a simple give, take, and departure), and from what she gathered from his school life, Kyousuke rarely conversed with anyone unless absolutely necessary. Nowadays, to see him speak at all was rare, and the sight of him initiating a conversation was nonexistent.

"Will you survive?" The question was blunt, but the implications were not.

"You've never asked that question before."

"Maybe so, but the circumstances weren't quite the same."

Piercing dark blue eyes stared into frosty dark brown. Both were unyielding as neither was willing to back down.

"I don't see how this concerns you," was her cold reply.

"And why is that?"

"Because you'd be a fool to get involved."

Kyousuke's features hardened as his abdomen seized up with anger.

"Listen, I can-"

"The only thing you can do is get killed. This isn't a game. "

Silence permeated the air as the teenager across her sat rigid.

"So that's how it is…" Kyousuke muttered under his breath.

"If that's all, I'm leaving."

"I still stand by my offer to help," Kyousuke interjected. "I might not be able to help in direct combat, but I can provide safe shelter, food, or any viable resource that can keep you alive."

"And by doing so, you compromise the safety of the group you cutely call your family."

The brief, almost unnoticeable flinch told her that she got him. That was good; despite the apparent lack of care for his safety, at least he cared about his family.

"Go home," she bluntly commanded. "You've done all that a human can do, and there's no reason to help me."

She stood to leave, and Kyousuke who grew oddly silent, could not refute the truth of her words. The girl in the lacy dress pulled at one of her black twin tails, and gave one regretful glance backwards.

"After all, you're just an ordinary high school student."

….

School was boring, yet again.

Manami was yet another blight on his life, an existence that caused him much pain, yet something he couldn't bear to throw away. She was like that old stuffed toy teenagers still kept, the one with threads all bare and old, disheveled and falling apart, but spoke of wistfulness and past songs.

Manami watched her crush eat out the bento box, gaze turned upwards. The rhythmic clack of chopsticks was the only sound Kyousuke made, as he ate slowly and thoughtfully. He looked more tired than usual, with his body slouched against the metal wire fence providing the gateway between a rendezvous on a rooftop and a plummet to one's death.

"Thanks for making lunch."

"It's no problem," Manami waved off.

"No really, I owe you a lot."

"It's fine."

She wanted to ask him if he still had those bad dreams, but held her tongue. Such things were a touchy topic with him, and were one of the reasons why he stopped having sleepovers at her house.

It had a lot taken a lot of introspection for her to come to that conclusion. When he had cut off the daily nights over, she had been very upset over how he didn't seem to like her anymore, and had even cried over it a little. However, it was also when she started to notice strange things about him.

Like how he would disappear from classes for days and nobody seemed to notice. Or that one time he had pushed her out of the way of a careening truck.

She still remembered the salty smell of blood everywhere, and how she screamed until her throat was hoarse. How she started to panic and how the entire world seemed to freeze as the blood pooled at her knees. A hand had been laid on her shoulder then, and then her body and mind shut down.

When she regained consciousness, she awoke in her own room gasping for breath. She had frantically rushed downstairs, causing a ruckus, screaming up a fit. Her grandmother had come rushing out, startled by the sudden commotion.

Kyousuke had been fine, or rather; he had been seen carrying her home. At the time, she had passed off the whole thing as a severely messed up dream, after she had confirmed the safety of Kyousuke through insistent phone calls. However, in the weeks afterwards, Kyousuke walked with a limp and a stiff right shoulder, and the line between what she supposedly dreamt and reality was blurred.

If anything, the possibility that Kyousuke was hiding anything strengthened her resolve to help him. Despite his attempts to distance himself from everyone else, she pushed and pushed, trying to regain that lost ground of friendship.

Her eyes took in his exhausted figure, and she took a deep breath.

"Kyousuke…"

His gaze turned to her.

"…would you like to come to my house for a study session?"

There was a brief long pause as he hesitated, before he closed his mouth and threw glance at the floor.

"…I must look out of it today, huh?" There was a dry chuckle. "Sure."

Manami held her hands to her fluttering heart.

…..

As expected, they didn't really study anything at all.

The moment Kyousuke entered the house and sat on the ground near the wooden table, he leaned against the wall and fell into a deep sleep. She frowned at this; Kyousuke didn't seem to follow a healthy lifestyle gathering from the copious amount of makeup he placed on himself. Makeup he used to mask his rampant pallor.

"Ugh…"

He muttered among incoherent babbling. Some of them pleads; others nonsensical, but it still made her wonder all the same. A tear pooled at his eyes, and one ran down his cheek.

"Kyousuke…"

She reached out to wipe it away, but her hand lingered millimeters from his cheek. Kyousuke hated it when people touched him, and acted violently to any attempts. Manami herself had never tried, not wanting to risk the viper's wrath.

She touched him anyway.

Kyousuke's eyes flittered open, and Manami thought her heart would stop. But she trailed her thumb upwards to wipe at the source of the pain, and Kyousuke didn't move an inch.

"You were crying…"

She felt his entire body rise with a pent in breath before he exhaled all of it. His voice came out raspy, like something was blocking his throat, and he coughed to clear his throat a few times.

"What would you do, if you knew your grandmother was going to die soon?"

Manami inwardly flinched at the question, but the implications dealt a hammer blow to her demeanor. She knew enough to keep her mouth shut about it though, lest her crush shut his mouth like a clam over a pearl.

"I would…" She gave it a long, hard thought. "I would spend my last moments with her and try to make her life as happy as I can achieve before she passes away."

"What if that's not possible? What if, nearing the last vestiges of her life, she disappeared entirely and became untraceable? What if you never knew about the certainty of her death until she disappeared?"

Manami's voice dimmed to a whisper.

"Are you that grandmother?"

Kyousuke didn't answer, his silence speaking volumes. Manami clutched at her skirt.

"Is that what you are going to do?" she continued, her velvet voice murmuring. "Disappear without telling us, without even letting us say goodbye?"

"I never said I was that grandmother. You're jumping to conclusions, and taking the question too seriously."

Kyousuke sighed.

"Don't get too upset about it, it's just a hypothetical situation."

"Really," Manami said with bitterness, surprising Kyousuke. "You worry me…"

Kyousuke gave her hand an extended, gentle stare. A melancholy smile crossed his face, but it fell as Kyousuke's eyes fell on her face, and promptly grew distant.

"Never change, Manami," he said.

Manami never asked. Why exactly Kyousuke looked so somber when he looked at her; that was the question she never asked.

…..

N/A: Sorry for the late update. Better late than never, heheh, but seriously, I have no excuse for this. R&R, hopefully. Chapter 3 will be done really soon, I promise.


	3. Chapter 3

"…Kirino."

The preoccupied orange-haired girl failed to answer, her pupils following the distant activity outside. Every now and then, the tip of her pencil rattled against the wooden desk as she aimlessly bobbed her hand up and down.

Ayase bit her lip; something must have happened to her recently. Kirino had arrived to school with an exhausted air and red-rimmed eyes, which Ayase had initially passed off as a result of having too little sleep. But it hadn't been just this day either.

Ayase snaked her hand onto her shoulder and shook her a little.

"Kirino!" she scolded.

Kirino snapped back into reality as she turned to face two curious expressions. Kanako had two hands on her hips as she gave Kirino an irritated but secretly concerned look.

"Sorry…I was just…thinking."

"Oho?" Kanako began with a smirk. "Thinking about your boyfriend?"

"What?" Kirino spluttered. "No!" she burst out as Ayase glared at Kanako.

"That wasn't funny," Ayase said.

Kanako shrugged.

"Well, there has to be some reason why Kirino's so out of shape today." Kanako pruned. "After all, Kirino's so pretty she can get any boy she likes."

Kirino felt the coils of her stomach wound tightly with the statement. Suddenly, she didn't feel so well, and her patience was worn thin with the direction the discussion was going.

"Excuse me," Kirino suddenly stated, as she stood from her chair and started for the classroom door.

Kanako and Ayase were too shocked by the sudden development to come up with a coherent response, and exchanged worried looks.

"This is your fault," Ayase commented, her voice rising with barely restrained fury.

"You think Kirino-"

"Don't. Even. Start."

Kanako gulped at the tone that promised certain death if she continued any further. If there was one thing to be wary of, it was a wrathful Ayase.

{[+]}

Water fell in cascades from the metallic tap as Kirino cupped the water in her hands. She brought it up to her face, dousing her facial features in water in an attempt to pound some sense into her head.

It didn't stop the rising bile in her stomach though.

"_I'm going to let mom and dad know that you've been playing eroge."_

_The memory of it sent white-hot lances through her gut, causing her knees to shake and tears to rush up to her eyes. Her hands gripped the sides of the basin as she stared at her distorted reflection in the water. _

_It didn't make sense. Why did she feel so betrayed?_

"…Liar," she growled to herself.

Just when she thought she could find someone that wouldn't judge her, he had turned around and beaten her with it. He was just as despicable as she had imagined him to be, and she realized with a pang that her brother was no longer the dependable, cool person she had known.

Distaste flooded her mouth-

-Imsorrysosorrypleaseimsosorrypleasedontidontwantt hispleaseimsosorrysosorrysorry-

-vomiting. He was vomiting. His eyes were bloodshot and the monstrous sounds he made as he vomited frankly terrified Kirino. In the darkness, she could hardly recognize her brother, and she almost mistook the older boy heaving in the bathroom as another very sick teenager.

Even in the darkness, she could see how pale he was, and the hands he used to push her away were clammy with cold sweat. His entire body screamed vulnerability, even more so as he moved unnaturally to the toilet and-

Kirino gasped as several shivers ran down her spine.

The reflection in the water stared back at her with wide terrified eyes. She shook the water out of her bangs and wiped at her face.

"Oh God…"

{[+]}

It had taken a lot of cajoling on Kirino's part, but eventually she was able to return home unmolested. Convincing Ayase that nothing was wrong took a lot of placating and apologizing on Kirino's part, and Kanako had been oddly silent and sheepish in the last class of the day.

The thought of delaying her return to the house did cross her mind as a possibility but she refused to accept it. She would not give her brother the satisfaction of her absence, even if he did hold a considerable amount of blackmail material on her.

So here she was, sitting on the sofa, her hands clenched into fists, bracing her brother's return. The past few days had been tense; an unknown type of pressure had been the air when Kyousuke entered the same room as her. Naturally, she left the room immediately in the event of that happening, but dinner was an agonizing affair full of barely concealed glances.

Today she was going to confront her brother, and she was going to…well she didn't know what she was going to do. But, she would definitely do something to resolve this, and maybe she wouldn't be so out of it anymore.

There was shuffling outside the door, and adrenaline started flood her body. Knocking echoed through the house, and…wait a minute, Kyouske didn't knock. He had a house key.

She rushed to open the door, the view of Kanako and Ayase greeting her.

"Hey, Kirino…" Kanako greeted hesitantly. "Uh…I wanted to apologize for what happened earlier…"

The strain in her body deflated as relief flooded her body, even though her dilemma was far from over.

"No, it's fine…"

"Are you really okay?" Ayase said, worry marring every aspect of her being. "You've been out of it lately."

"I…well…" Kirino's voice trailed off, her eyes taking in both of her friends' concerned expressions. For some reason, she cracked up, laughing at everything.

For several moments, neither Ayase nor Kanako knew quite how to react.

"Thanks guys," she said with genuine gratefulness, as her giggles died down. "I really appreciate it."

"Ha~" Kanako exhaled towards the side. "Geez Ayase, see? She's alright. Even if she's a bit more coocoo than normal…"

Kirino pouted for a while, but Ayase's resulting reprimand brought a smile to her face. It was times like these that she really appreciated her friends-

"I'm home, Kirino."

She froze, a lump of cold ice shoved down her throat, and she barely pushed out a coherent response. Without so much of a second glance, Kyousuke deftly maneuvered around her and her friends, and closed the living room's door behind him, no doubt to drink his daily tea. Kirino stared after him.

"-irino. Kirino!"

She was brought back to reality, once again to Ayase's angelic face, but her nerves had no doubt been frayed by Kyousuke's sudden appearance. Suddenly, with her friends in front of her and the person who knew her darkest secret behind her, she didn't feel quite so well.

"Oh, are these your friends Kirino?"

She jumped and spun to meet her mom. Her mother held her hand to her mouth.

"What's with you today? You act like a frightened rabbit," she teased. She turned to address her friends. "Are the rest of you here for Kirino?"

Dismay flooded her when her brain caught up with the words her mother was speaking, because the last thing she wanted was for her friends to stay longer when her brother was in the house.

…..

Kyouske sighed as he gingerly placed the drained cup into the sink.

Kirino. _Oh._

He had completely forgotten about her. During the past few days, he fell into another period of time he occasionally referred to as 'the dull-zies'. Aptly named, he went to sleep drugged up on sleeping pills while he spent the daytime going through the motions in a dissociative haze.

His psychologist told him this wasn't healthy, dad told him it wasn't healthy, but it helped a lot.

"So," he whispered. "There goes the last of the pretty garden…"

_What doesn't kill you makes you stronger._

Even now, he chuckled at how she used to tempt fate regularly with those words. Too bad she never lived long enough for the adage to hold root, just like what he thought was his true self eroded away.

Five years ago, he loved his little sister. From the moment he laid his eyes on her infantile face and wide blue eyes; from the moment Kirino grasped his index finger with her puny right hand, he fell in love with his younger sibling.

They were inseparable, they did everything together, and Kyousuke was the loving overprotective brother all younger sisters wanted. At times, it was embarrassing; at that age Kirino always made him promise to marry her. But it was intimate and close and warm all the same.

Then everything went to hell, and in the process the cute, puppy love relationship guttered out, leaving behind a gaping void in the interactions of the Kousaka siblings. Only, while the crybaby Kirino toughened up and became a confident teenage prodigy, Kyousuke took the alternate route and broke himself.

He didn't regret it though. He never did. Kirino would never know it, and Kyousuke will never tell, but he saved her life at the time. Even if all the what-ifs and the what-it-could-have-beens left him empty and hollow inside.

_Count your blessings. You still have your family. _

"I know I do," he said.

And he muffled his mouth as he sobbed into the sink.

…..

Later that afternoon, when he was awoken by the doorbell, he found himself hauling his body off the sofa to scout the door out of boredom and irritation. It had been a relatively nice nap too; the dreams hadn't been too bad or crazy, even if they were far from heavenly.

As it turned out, a parcel had arrived.

"What is this?" he grumbled at the delivery man.

The delivery man stared at him, nonplussed.

"Are you Kirino Kousaka?"

"I'm her brother."

The delivery man raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you might want to give her this parcel then. Just so you know, you didn't receive this from me."

Now it was Kyousuke's turn to raise an eyebrow. He checked where it was from, and found that the brand stapled on to it was some sort of fashion brand.

"What are you doing with my package?"

Kyousuke threw a glance upwards towards the source of the icy words. Before he knew it, the package had been snatched away from his grasp and the owner of the package coldly ignored his presence as she climbed back upstairs.

"Huh," was his only reaction.

_Now, why would that delivery man have that kind of reaction? _

He found himself giving the question some thought, and remembered the last time he had ordered something unscrupulous online. There were some services on the internet that would happily hide products in boxes with brands that wouldn't generate much attention.

It couldn't be, could it?

Regardless, he found himself eavesdropping through the wall between Kirino's room and his own, since it wasn't like he had anything better to do.

"So what's that package holding?" The voice definitely didn't belong to Kirino, that's for sure.

_Jackpot, _Kyousuke thought.

"Oh," Kirino said. "It's from Atelier. It must be the handbag I purchased."

There was a giggle, and then an "I want to see! I want to see!" shouted out of the room.

A ruffling and tearing sound rumbled in Kyousuke's ears, followed by a violent upheaval that could only be interpreted as Kirino taking the offensive package and frantically hauling it away from the eyes of her friends. Kyousuke planted the palm of his hand against his forehead.

_What an idiot._

For a moment there, he really did think that the box had an innocent package, but on the contrary, it just turned out that Kirino had forgotten something as minor as, oh, _a freaking eroge hidden in a cardboard box. _

He spun into action.

His footsteps thumped against the wooden floor as he practically threw Kirino's bedroom door open. Three blank stares met him, one of them belonging to a flushed and clearly panicking Kirino.

"That's mine."

He pointed at the package and hoped Kirino wouldn't do anything stupid.

"But it says it was for Kirino," a red headed girl pressed.

"It's uh…" Kyousuke racked his brains. "…a surprise present for Kirino. It was supposed to be addressed to me, but it seems mom made a mistake."

He strode forward, took the package out of Kirino's hands and left the group, closing the door behind him. When he was safely in his room, he scrutinized the box, noting the ragged slit at the top of the box.

_Some credit's due_, he thought. _It only took her two centimeters to realize something was wrong._

Now, he just had to hide this somewhere for the time being.

"So, what's going on here?"

"Gah!" he exclaimed, as he threw his hands up, along with the package.

His mother looked at him bemusedly through the crack of the extended door.

"Oho…?"

_Today is going to be a long day, _he groaned mentally as he laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

In hindsight, he should have known it was going to be a long night as well, if the thoughts of his little sister next door were any indication.

…

A/N: I did finish this pretty soon, and I'm halfway done with chapter 4. Nowadays, I resolve to stop proofreading so much, if not I'll get hung over on the story for not being perfect, and I never get it finished…

I know many of you are curious about what it is crossed with, but please be patient with me and the story. It's definitely AU, but not a very happy AU…

R&R?


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